


No rest for the wicked Emperor

by Zalakbian



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Agender!Byleth, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Post-Canon, Sleep Deprivation, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zalakbian/pseuds/Zalakbian
Summary: Byleth can tell that Edelgard is working very late and with little sleep, but she says she'll come to bed soon?
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	No rest for the wicked Emperor

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by the lovely [Phoebe](https://mobile.twitter.com/Phoebebebe47), on Twitter. 
> 
> Big thanks to my wonderful gf Kathryn for helping to beta this, I love you <3
> 
> If you like this, please consider joining to talk about it on the [Edeleth Discord Server](https://discord.gg/m2AVbJ3) I run! You can also [follow me on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/MariMari07_01)

“Hello, El? I brought you the coffee you asked for?”

“Ah, you really are a goddess, By… just bring it over here please, ok?”

Byleth carefully stepped around the piles of papers that had been stacked up like a maze on the office floor. Towers of sheets each meticulously sorted, some reaching almost half of Byleth’s height, and covering parts of the floor, chairs and couch, as there was simply no way to fit any more on the Emperor’s desk. Byleth could only barely see their wife through a tiny gap between stacks, just a tiny scruff of messy pale hair as Edelgard was obviously buried face down in some documents.

“Can I… help with this in any way?” Byleth nervously asked as they handed the mug off to a visibly bag eyed, hair frizzed Edelgard, who immediately began to chug as much of the dark, muddy drink as possible. Edelgard was left with about half of the brew remaining when she finally stopped to breathe. However, the Emperor’s first gasp was in fact a long, sorrowing yawn, ending with a tired grumble, and Edelgard resting her head upon folded arms on the table. She didn’t know the exact time, but it had definitely been at least a whole twenty four hours since last shut eye, and all the caffeine in the world could only help so much.

“I know how this looks.” Edelgard stated in advance to Byleth’s next obvious question. “And I’ll be fine… I just need to finish this last part of the treaty.”

Byleth however wasn’t convinced at all. “El, even Hubert has gone to sleep.” They said, and continued to press on. “It’s past midnight, and the bed is so empty. Won’t you please just finish this tomorrow? I know for a fact you aren’t due to meet the Alliance lords for another week and a half.”

Edelgard grimaced at her lover’s pleading, in truth she wanted nothing more than to curl up in Byleth’s warm embrace and rest her aching head, but she couldn’t, not yet. “I’m really so close to finishing, my love.” Edelgard countered while rubbing her eyes. “And if I sleep now, I’ll forget how I was going to conclude the settlement… no more than an hour, that’s all I’m asking.” She painfully requested.

“And then you’ll come straight to bed?” Byleth reiterated.

“Yes, you have my word.”

Byleth stood silently biting their lip in thought. Honestly they would rather drag her lover kicking and screaming to bed than have to bear witness to how horridly exhausted Edelgard looked. But she had given her word, and Byleth didn’t want to cause their wife any more stress by going against it.

Instead they leaned over and pressed a light kiss onto Edelgard’s damp forehead, claiming, “I’ll count the minutes until you slip in the covers with me, my heart.”

Edelgard chuckled briefly before giving Byleth a small pat on their shoulder. “Please, have some faith in me, my light.” She teased in return.

So Byleth wound their way back through the maze of papers all the way back to their shared bedroom. Kicking off their boots, coat, and other outerwear, Byleth collapsed onto the magnificent duvet in just their small clothes, preferring this to any sort of nightgown when sleeping in the warm summer nights. In truth Byleth felt ready to sleep already, liking the mental image of waking up with an Edelgard now materialized next to them, but they had just enough concern over the Emperor’s intentions to keep an eye on the clock and wait her out. So a book was selected, and pillows piled up for Byleth lean back in bed and run the minutes by. It was a cheesy romance about an orphan king falling in love with his closest advisor and general, somewhat relatable to Byleth’s own position, but they were determined not to let their wife see this particular volume, lest she tease them about it constantly.

Minutes passed, and every dozen pages or so Byleth would sneak a peek to the large grandfather clock on the side of the room, despairing at how little the hands would move each time. Eventually even the novel was blazed through, and Byleth simply lay on their side daydreaming about fishing trips, or taking Edelgard out on a romantic boat ride, or even introducing her to their long lost parents. Byleth frowned and looked back at the clock again, it was half past one in the morning, which meant that Edelgard’s time was well up, yet she was nowhere to be seen. They were about to get up and go check on her, but something nagged.

“Edelgard wouldn’t forget, I bet this was just her losing track of time. She’ll come.”

Boredom now began to set in, and for some curious reason Byleth found themselves drawn to Edelgard’s cabinets. There they tried on bits and pieces of their wife’s clothes out of tired amusement, which helped put into perspective how much ‘smaller’ Edelgard truly was. Eventually Byleth’s eyes glances upon the clock once more while trying to tug on a greatly undersized bra, and the time within sealed their decision.

_02:07_

Byleth quietly opened the door to Edelgard’s office while wrapped up in a long robe. Their plan was to catch Edelgard in the act of willfully neglecting her sleep and chew her out for it. A plan borne of love and concern, they hoped their carefully chosen and prepared words would ultimately convince the Emperor to better take care of herself, or Byleth was going to do it for her. Strangely however the office was deathly quiet, and all the previously lit lanterns were snuffed out. Byleth had to light a small ball of magic in their hand to make their way through the piles, eventually coming to an unmistakable, and somewhat cute sight. 

Edelgard von Hresvelg had fallen asleep at her desk.

Her head was resting peacefully upon folded arms, the cup of coffee Byleth brought hours ago standing tepid and undisturbed since the initial drink. Byleth smiled at the sight, but deep down they felt a little upset over having waited patiently for so long while their wife was happily snoring away. Clearly there was only one thing to do.

“Come on El, time to go to bed.” Byleth whispered as she carefully scooped Edelgard up in their arms, taking extra care not to wake the sleepy Emperor up. “Time to make sure you get a full and rewarding sleep.”

When the Emperor finally awoke from her impromptu nap, several things didn’t make sense. First she was clearly in bed, but Edelgard had no memory of returning to her room. Next, the sun was clearly at its height as she could see through the windows, yet the Emperor was always awake at dawn. But lastly and most importantly, Edelgard could barely move a muscle, which she quickly found out was because her wife was holding onto her for dear life, arms wrapped tightly around her torso, and legs interlocked with one of her thighs. Edelgard attempted to budge, shift around, and shimmy out, but every movement seemed to tighten her wife’s sleeping death grip.

“Byleth!” She yelped, still trying to break free. “I overslept! Let me go!”

The former professor didn’t even bat an eye, instead yawning back, “I’m giving you the day off, now sleep…”

“But the papers! I need to get back to my office now!”

Byleth opened a sleepy eye and kissed Edelgard on the cheek. “You broke your word, this is your punishment.” Edelgard could only emit a low pitched whine in retort.

And so the Adrestian Emperor was sentenced to a full day’s bed rest and recuperation, at the hands of her wicked and unmerciful jailor, Empress Byleth von Hresvelg-Eisner.


End file.
